Converting your Skills for Business
Traditional thinking would have us think that having a job working for someone is the basic essential of life itself. As we have seen in the last few years this model is changing rapidly especially in North America. Don’t get me wrong, you can work for someone and enjoy life to the fullest but there are ways to approach that scenario to make it more fulfilling too.
There are several ways to have a business. One way is to invest such as buying stock or a little more active such as participate in the strategy and significant part of the funding. The other option is to actively run a business and this can have different models to consider. Case in point is that you could be the Chairman making major strategy decisions while getting others to execute or it could be the case where you are a one man show.
In the investor type business approach, you could keep your regular job for the fun of it or you could now do some other activities while your investment continues to grow with the company.
I am planning to provide as much research as I can on the business building side of things and I have developed a new blog to cover most of this called the Business Start-up Guide Blog.
It could be much easier to start a business than you may think. For example if you are a technical professional, you could incorporate a company for $220 or more then seek technical contracts in the company name (lots of tax advantages). As things grow you could get others to help under contract while you look at more long term strategies. I will cover some of these scenarios in the blog.
One of the most sticky point is financing. I have a cool idea of how to get very good financing for your business through your company. Can’t wait to share that and I am testing it out as we speak.
Until next time…
One Week after Nortel Update
I won’t be posting much more about Nortel in the future but since today is one week since I got laid off, I feel like doing a post on it.
Actually, its interesting, I am very relaxed and slowly building my life away from Nortel, I feel like there are so many possibilities now away from the routine that I had then. It’s funny, they always say that “if you win the rat race you are still a rat”. This is why I am very religious because I think that if someone based life on getting to the top of the corporate ladder it seem so futile.
The things I can remember about Nortel is that the executives keep saying how things will be better yet when you read the news and opinions from outside the consensus was the opposite. Of course the outside was right most times since now Nortel end up in Bankruptcy. As an employee there are so many things you think could change but real challenge to express that feeling.
I think what’s driving the new breed of emerging companies is a culture of employee participation as oppose to the usual I tell you what to do approach which is outdated. We all hope that eventually Nortel will hire executes that focus more on this model since you have over 20000 very qualified people why would you only rely on a few to chart the course of the company?
In the end, I have to be very positive and happy now. I can get the job I really wanted, I can get the promotion that I never got so its a good thing that happened to me last week. In fact I am working on several business ideas that could take off fairly quick and seal the deal of my life freedom to really help people and take it to another level.
The main point I want to make is that I am learning to really embrace freedom daily.
The Whole Idea of Career Change
Today is my birthday and my first Monday away from work at Nortel. Its an important time for me to look at what I would like to accomplish in life both long term and short term.
At this stage in life, its important to look at your career track and see how to leverage that forward. For example, I am very good hands-on engineer but in the last two years, I kind of felt that I wanted to move in a different direction. Trust me, I am a gadget person so I am not going to walk away from doing actual work on devices or applications.
My position is that I would like to focus on more strategic or leadership type roles. Speaking of leadership, I have seen a lot of poor ones over the years and I always feel like correcting such in my own ways.
How to go about making the career change while maintaining some degree of seniority that I have gained? There are several ways I think you can do this.
1. Accept a Junior position in the new role for a limited time period. The junior guys do most of the work anyway, so its a great opportunity to learn quickly. Of course you need some humility to make this change. The one down side is that you would have to compete with more junior people to get this position and the manager or leader may see you as a threat with your experience background.
2. Take a short course in the area to boost your standing for such positions. Now this will work well for example if you started in test engineering and wanted to move back into Software engineering. Its a lateral move for the most part, so won’t be difficult to make the transition. If you want to move to more senior positions, then you would need a different tactic
3. Take an advanced degree in the area. This is where a lot of people especially in leadership goes back to school and get masters degrees. Even if you already have a masters in your original field, either getting a new masters or PhD can bolster your position for promotional track. Now in terms of degrees such as the MBA, it makes sense to go after well named schools but the high cost could be an issue.
4. Networking – This could be the first step in any case where you leverage your friend network to get the desired position. Most positions just need certain competencies with good reading and research you could do well. Your network would have an idea of how you work and could recommend you easily.
5. Volunteering – I saw this approach in an article some time ago. This person was unemployed and decided to accept a position without pay. This allow him/her to learn the job and whenever positions became vacant this person was on the priority list to get into the paid position. I think this can be a very useful approach that can work immediately.
6. Certifications – This is a very effective way to make a change or get recognition for your new area of interest. Some certification are basically exam only but others require certifiable experience in the area that you desire. For example, if you want to be a project manager and have led some projects as a senior engineer, that should give you some credibility to go after the PMP title. With the PMP certification you have a much better chance to get a project manager’s job especially with some other good experiences.
Whenever you go after certification, ensure that you get the best one in the desired field. You can also look for groups that offer peer review type certifications as a start. There are also some online certifications for specific skills such as Brainbench.com or Expertrating.com.
If you want to make a career change or grow, the first step you would do, is to research the area of interest and learn what you can. Look up local people in the area and interview them (in a friendly way) to learn what the job entails, daily routine etc..
Lots more to discuss on this topic but its worth having a strategy around it..
Beginning of life after Nortel
Well, spent my first day after termination (Lay off) from Nortel on Thursday February 25, 2009. I generally relaxed myself, no job hunting as such but kind of getting my mind on my action plan which I mostly had already.
I had started working on some business financing in any case and the timing could never have been so perfect. This is why I believe in God. In one sense I wanted to do something else but of course I wanted to secure the economics before you make that move. Some times a kick is good since it allows you to make bold moves that pays off positively most of the time.
No question in my mind that I do not want to give anyone the privilege or right to ever lay me off again. Obviously such persons are losers and I don’t want to be associated with losers. Of course I want to help on a spiritual level but from what I observe its mostly arrogance that get companies or people to this point.
My pledge and focus will be on doing what I want to do. Many times you let fear reign and stick with what we know and seem to work. Obviously for many people that’s not the case, so the rule is to go for what you want. That always work once you stick with it and have a good plan to get there.
The way forward then is to enjoy Shabbath today and give the most moral person in the universe the praise that he deserves.
Final days at Nortel
Well, finally my last working day at Nortel will be this Thursday.. Got final word today. Next Monday is my birthday, so I will have to treat it as freedom as oppose to the negative thing of losing a job.
My commitment with this is to make it a very positive turning point in my life and move on to better things.
Will say more when all is finalized..
Larkland
Re-Evaluating my Life Goals
This week will be yet another turning point in my journey at Nortel. I could either get a position on another project or finally get the notice to move on with my life (in this case, no economic support what so ever). Its interesting to evaluate the ramifications of both options. In the later, I have little control on what will happen next to the company or my new position. I can work hard and smart and contribute which I will do but no control. I am mentioning the word control deliberately here.
On the other hand, if I get notice to leave Nortel in two hours, I will have control and freedom. There will be a challenge for economic support for my family in the short term but I think the long term options are very good. I have to evaluate some of the techniques that I have learned over the last two years and see how I can implement them in the short to medium term.
The one thing that I realize that I have been struggling with is the short term effect of economic needs and the long term value of freedom. Regardless of the economic situation, there are so many things I could do generate 10 times my current income, so I keep asking myself; whats wrong with this picture? Why give up freedom?
In closing this post, I keep looking at the view of the pain brain versus the gain brain. The pain brain is kind of afraid to lose whats there because there can be so many negative effects while the gain brain is saying go for what you want and stick with that mantra.
Timing can be everything, I just started the process to acquire a commercial property and it will take another 4-5 months to complete but once done I would have given myself a raise and literally have to do nothing. The next step then is look for what I can do with technology and helping people.
Re-visiting the Path to Success – Part 2
Want to bring out a few points as this is the last on this theme for now. I always have to think of the person who feels helpless in terms of their circumstances especially financially.
I was reading a good write up on the law of attraction and it reminds that maybe why some people are not succeeding is 1. They are not grateful enough and 2. They do not take responsibility for their own mistakes.
Lets assume then that you are in a hole financially, can’t pay your bills, always borrowing, late on payments etc..
First ask yourself, how did you get here? Then the next step is to be proactive to correct the problem. This means that you would need to approach all your creditors and say that things are not looking good and you need a fresh start. Most times this works if you do it the right way. There are many companies that can help with this as well but the process of calling them yourself to start would give you a good sense of where you are..
The next step is that you need to align your spending to your earnings, meaning you can’t spend more than you earn, very simple..
Lets say you made a start, talk to creditors and get them to at least listen, you may find that you are still in a hole based on your basic needs. The suggestion, I would make then is to find a way to increase your income while you keep your spending in check as much as ever.. The next important word to remember is leverage.. Leverage applies on all levels and to all situations. One thing you can leverage is your skills and experience to find another Job paying better or start a business. All depending on the circumstances that you face. If you lack a marketable skill then it means you need to get some training on a skill that’s marketable. In most countries there are many opportunities to get a six month training program literally for free.. This will then become leverage.
To finish on the business side. Because you maybe poor and unknown does not mean you can’t start a business. If you have good skills and see opportunities locally, make appointment with leading business people in the area to check on potential partnerships. One word of warning here, research them first of course. Some will take the idea and tell you no. You want to find people that are positive and willing to help. Don’t be afraid of the no answer. Just refine the idea and keep asking.
Re-Visiting the Path to Success
There are many paid and free seminars telling you how to be successful and I am sure most people leave those seminars charged with the intention to be successful. We can say in this context that there are three elements to success, 1. the current, 2. The target and 3. the gap.
It’s very important to understand where you are in order to move forward just as much as its important to know where you are going. Take a simple example, lets say you want to be a successful airline pilot but have never even taken a plane in your life much less to fly one. How would you move from that point to achieve your goals? The first step is to analyze where you are currently in order to move forward. Do you have the resources to gain a pilot’s license? do you have the mental circumstances to perform such a task?
This applies a lot with financial success as well. Lets say you have made decisions in your life, like have a dependent family, have debts to pay, relationships and skills that may not really help in that path. How do you deal with those? The first thing is to understand how you got to the point that you are in your decision making process. On the other hand, the good news is that regardless of where you are, achieving your goals will have challenges. Therefore challenges is a common path for all success seekers.
The first and most critical element for success before you even work things out with the circumstances is the whole concept of passion. You need to be passionate about your goal. Of course we need to be practical, some circumstances may take you longer to achieve the desired goal.
This comes to the last part I want to briefly mention and that’s the gap. Many success speakers can do a great job at talking about the future and to some extent the present but never realize that each person literally needs a customize path to bridge those gaps. Of course there are common tools and techniques for everyone but the help that most people need is to chart the course not to be reminded what the goal itself can bring.
Don’t get me wrong, achieving goals could mean making hard choices and that’s the first area to accept if not any other. You have to be convicted to change since its not going to be a smooth road. When these speakers take your check to make you successful, they will show you all the fan fairs of fancy life style and wealth but they are not willing to highlight upfront the importance of persistence and other attributes to real success.
This topic is way more than one short blog post but it can get you thinking on what’s required to change. Bear in mind that if you truly believe in your goals, then the experience would be fun regardless of how the outside perception is.
Be successful today…
Fast Business Funding Secret
While on the topic of funding a start-up business which is critical to me personally at this stage of my business journey, there are some ideas that are not widely discussed but has been always available.
The one secret I would present here is the concept of unsecured business line of credit. This means you could get up $200K credit in your company once you follow the right steps to build a credit profile..
Now this is an area where you could get scammed easily, so its important to do your home work on what makes sense. From what I can see, you could get that amount after about 6 months of work on the business profile. This means there are processes to follow that would make you eligible for that level of credit.
There are some companies that offer services that can get you the amount in one month but they would charge upwards of $10K upfront for the service. That is fine especially for real estate but for regular business, you need to be careful since that’s putting aside lots of cash you could use otherwise. However, it gives you faster leverage to get your company going as well.
In my research, I have seen about two companies that seem to follow the comfortable process steps to get you a line of credit in 3-6 months without worry about any backlash. Their services cost about $2000.00 for all the requirements. This does fits into our $2000 quick cash threshold nicely.
The next piece of advice is that there are many ways to leverage that $200K or more to ensure you have even more cash to accelerate your business but that’s your own decision to make.
I am always willing to share but I will not post any company names here.. I am sure the idea is a great gift in itself. These seem to only work in the US as far as I know.
Larkland Morley's Professional Blog 